What I'm reading ...

I have started Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale. I rarely read two books by an author in quick succession, but this is the second time that I have read one of Gale’s books and immediately wanted to read another. Here’s the blurb:

Celebrated artist Rachel Kelly dies alone in her Penzance studio, after decades of struggling with the creative highs and devastating lows that have coloured her life. Her family gathers, each of them searching for answers. They reflect on lives shaped by the enigmatic Rachel - as artist, wife and mother - and on the ambiguous legacies she leaves them, of talent, torment and transcendent love.

A Perfectly Good Man - by Patrick Gale [redux]

I have just re-read this book, as it is my next book club selection. It is nearly 3 years since I read it last time, so I had forgotten the details, only remembering that I had enjoyed it before. I think I enjoyed it even more this time around. I rarely read a book twice, as there are so many books I have not read and so little time. But this makes me rethink my approach.

I stand by all my previous comments. I now realise that the non-linear presentation of the story is actually the way we recall the past and this is why it does not feel unnatural. My only slightly negative thought is that I do not really understand why Phuc was so angry at his adopted parents, but I suspect my emotional intelligence is limited ...

I have just bought the book's predecessor, Notes from an Exhibition. 

The Rosie Project - by Graeme Simsion

After my initial feeling of identifying with Don, I quickly realized that, although I understood his logic and way of thinking, he was a lot worse than me! The story is laugh-out-loud funny in places and other bits are cringe-worthy embarrassment, but, to me, it was all quite credible.

As the story progresses and we get to know Don better, he is also rapidly developing as a person. Like Don, the other characters are mostly quite well drawn and the story progresses at a good pace.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I was entertained, but also made to think. An interesting aspect of the story is, if Don were told the ending at the start, he would have deemed it impossible. However, as the reader, I found his transition, leading to the climax of the book, quite believable.

I am not 100% sure that I want to read book 2, although the reviews are quite strong ...

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This book was recommended to me as being a very amusing, but not trivial read. Here’s the blurb:

Love isn't an exact science - but no one told Don Tillman. A thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don's never had a second date. So he devises the Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie - 'the world's most incompatible woman' - throwing Don's safe, ordered life into chaos. But what is this unsettling, alien emotion he's feeling?

My first impression is that I identify with Don rather a lot and wonder if it will read more like a self-help manual than a novel.

Dead Man’s Footsteps - by Peter James

As with the previous books in this series, I very much enjoyed reading this one. The pace is good and the amount of detail just about right. As usual, there are a number of threads that come together in a complex way and every chapter seems to end with some kind of cliff-hanger that pulls me in to read more, as the resolution is likely to be 2-3 chapters on. Overall, I kept turning the pages and didn’t guess everything before the end. Next time I was very recreational read, book #5 is to hand.